In spite of numerous predictions of a cashless society, the amount of cash in circulation has not declined. There are today an estimated 360 billion transactions in the EU every year to be compared with 60 billion non-cash transactions. The handling of cash is a very cost consuming operation still involving a lot of manual handling and transportation to and from consumers, retailers, banks, cash centres and National banks. The cash is counted on numerous occasions during this circulation and the security problems are extensive. The annual cost for handling of cash in the European Union is around 50 billion Euros. Significant savings could be made if a more rationalized and decentralized system could be introduced. The common currency makes it possible to take significant steps towards a more efficient handling of cash within the European Union with potential cost savings amounting to billions of Euro.
One concept that provides a very cost efficient solution to the handling of banknotes is embodied by a local cash handling system, the so-called Q-CashRouter® concept, which is provided by the applicant to the present application. The Q-CashRouter® system is herein generally referred to as a local cash handling system. It is an innovative self-service unit for efficient recycling of banknotes. It allows retailers to deposit their daily takings in full parallel with private consumers withdrawing cash. Banknotes are recycled locally in the machine, which minimizes the need for expensive cash transports and costly control processing of deposited banknotes. The concept is ideal for locations like shopping malls with its high volume flow of notes between shops, banks and consumers.
The local cash handling system may be configured with e.g. three or even more consumer fascias. This allows e.g. a retailer to deposit bundles of unsorted notes, in full parallel with two private consumers making cash withdrawals. The multiple-fascia support radically improves the efficiency of cash recycling and eliminates the inconvenience for consumers to have to queue-up behind retailers making large volume deposits. During the same time as one retailer deposits a bundle of e.g. 250 notes, the local cash handling system can process up to twelve consumers withdrawing cash at the two side fascias.
Deposited notes are sorted, quality controlled, and checked for counterfeits. Only notes of good quality are recycled to customers by the local cash handling system. Excess good quality notes are sorted and bundled in single or multidenomination sealed packages, which can be used directly, e.g. for loading of ATMs and as small-change cash for retailers.
The local cash handling system may be installed in environments where large volumes of cash is processed every day, e.g. in supermarkets, in shopping malls and in larger bank branch offices. A supermarket could use the local cash handling system to build a private protected room. Cashiers deposit their daily takings in the local cash handling system and receive a receipt on the deposited amount. At the end of the day the deposited amounts are automatically reconciled with the amounts captured by the point of sale (POS) system. No manual counting or sorting of notes is required.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,581,746 and 6,945,378 relate to different aspects of the cash handling system described above. In addition it is referred to the following prior art documents also disclosing various aspects of cash handling systems: U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,322, US-2004/0056086, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,985.
These patents and patent application disclose in particular the storage and circulation of banknotes within the system required achieving the local cash handling, e.g. the handling of banknotes of different denominations being stored in different storage means to be available for withdrawals, and the handling of non-accepted banknotes being sorted out and stored separately in sealed transparent envelopes.
A conventional ATM is normally provided with removable banknote storage units, so-called cassettes, where deposited banknotes are stacked and stored, and where banknotes are dispensed from during withdrawal.
Dependent of the cash-flow and of type of ATM, empty cassettes are replaced by full cassettes if withdrawals exceed the deposits, and full cassettes are replaced by empty cassettes if deposits exceed the withdrawals. Each cassette must be docked into the ATM such that stacking of banknotes within the cassette is facilitated if the ATM is a dedicated deposit ATM, and if the ATM is dedicated for withdrawals it must have capabilities for dispensing the banknote from the cassette. And if the ATM is adapted for both deposits and withdrawals the cassette must be docked into the ATM such that both stacking and dispensing of banknotes in the cassette is facilitated.
An object of the present invention is to achieve an improved stacking and dispensing module to be used in connection with a banknote storage unit, e.g. a cassette, which module is robust, easy adaptable to various types of banknotes, has high capacity with regard to speed and essentially no, or very low, failure rate. An object is to achieve an improved ATM provided with an upper unit capable of improving the banknote depositing procedure.